Barstool Sportsbook Penn National

The long-awaited, Barstool Sportsbook will take its first bets in Pennsylvania this week drawing plenty of buzz across the industry. Their sportsbook will officially soft launch on Friday, Sept. 18, garnering excitement from investors and players alike.

Earlier in the week, fans were able to download the app but that is where the product stopped. The app is able to be downloaded and said, “Barstool Sportsbook is undergoing scheduled testing by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. We will be back soon!”

• Penn National intends to officially launch its Barstool Sportsbook mobile app on iOS and android, as well as desktop at 12:00pm EST on Friday, January 22, 2021 and its iCasino products will follow.
• Penn National Gaming's Barstool Sports brand seems to have shrugged off the devastating impacts of COVID-19 in 2020.

Location: SECOND FLOOR, NEAR SKYBOX SPORTS BAR Sports betting is here, and Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course is your 50-yard-line ticket to odds, point spreads and over/unders. Betting on sports has never been easier. Penn National's primary customer is in their 50s, and the stake in Barstool is expected to diversify its audience. The Barstool Sportsbook launched solely in Pennsylvania, for now.

Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board will make sure the product is up to code before moving forward to its launch Friday.

As of Wednesday, fans are now able create an account and browse the app for betting options but not place any bets until Friday.

Barstool Sportsbook is partnered with Hollywood Casino PA which is managed by Penn National. Penn Nationals’ strength across the United States will surely continue to help the Barstool Sportsbook App gaining legislation elsewhere.

Penn National manages casinos in Indiana, Colorado, and Nevada so expect these to be their immediate targets to launch their product in the near future.

Penn National Inc. Market Cap Rockets After the Purchase of Barstool Sports Inc.

In January of 2020, Penn National Gaming Inc. announced it was acquiring a 36% interest in Barstool Sports Inc. for approx. $163 million setting the stage for the Barstool Sportsbook to launch.

Penn National Head of Interactive Jon Kaplowitz stated in the press release his excitement in purchasing Barstool Sports Inc. and the future of the Barstool Sportsbook.

“We look forward to introducing our 20 million mychoice customers to the Barstool Sportsbook brand through our retail sportsbooks and our interactive products. Our growing team of product and engineering talent at Penn Interactive is focused on what we anticipate will be a best-in-class sports betting app, which is expected to launch in the third quarter of 2020.”

Prior to the purchase of Barstool Sports Inc., Penn National featured a steady market cap hovering around $2 billion. It then hit $3 billion for the first time in January and then $4 billion within two weeks of the purchase of Barstool Sports Inc.

Penn National Inc. stock took a scary hit when COVID-19 was at its peak in March. Their market cap tumbled down as low as $550 million on March 18 before a quick rebound.

After serious turmoil, Penn National bounced back strong showing the investment in Barstool Sports would be a good one. 7 months later, Penn National Inc. is now over a $9.5 billion market cap.

What felt impossible a few months ago, PENN is now competing with the largest companies in the industry. Quickly moving towards MGM Resorts International (NSDQ: MGM) $11 billion market cap and already slightly higher than the $9.2 billion boasted by Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NSDQ: CZR). PENN is poised for further gains this week and next week at the least with the launch.

PENN’s Industry Experience + Barstool’s Media Empire Pack a Powerful 1-2 Combination

Of note for users who intend to use the Barstool Sportsbook App immediately, there is a solid first deposit bonus of a $500 risk-free bet and a $10 no deposit bonus. Rollover requirements are not yet listed but this is a strong start for the newcomer.

Barstool will be grabbing users from across a very competitive state. Their sportsbook is the 11th to launch in Pennsylvania and hopes to take a stranglehold on the PA market before long.

Barstool Sports Inc. President Dave Portnoy is not shy to make any headlines. Per his Twitter account, Portnoy makes some ambitious proclamations by saying, “What will happen to $Penn when I force the Barstool Sportsbook to be the #1 app in the App Store on Friday in the sports category?”

There is little doubt that Barstool Sports has a cult-like following so the downloads are going to come quickly during their Friday launch, whether it will be top of the App Store is a lofty goal from El Presidente.

While Dave Portnoy could get the downloads that he demands, the question will be if the stoolies push his sportsbook, “to the moon”.

Penn National sure is counting on it.

It’s still early days, but so far the Barstool Sportsbook app has exceeded almost every internal goal Penn National set for it, according to Penn’s CEO.

That’s a good sign for Penn since the nationwide rollout is going to happen quickly, CEO Jay Snowden said.

“We plan on being live in every state where we operate and where sports betting and online casino is legal by the end of 2021,” Snowden said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

Except for which area?

The exception to those goals, Snowden said, is the percentage of in-game betting. That will come with time as Penn gets better at promoting those opportunities, like through push notifications.

Snowden also boasted how the app has succeeded so far without any meaningful external marketing spending, thanks to the Barstool Sports personalities promoting the brand. That of course does not factor in the acquisition cost of Barstool itself.

That lack of advertising dollars needed “reinforces our belief that we should be able to, in the medium and long-term, achieve a top-three market share position in both the sports betting and iCasino space across the country in states where we operate, and with best-in-class profitability,” Snowden said.

Barstool Sportsbook PA results so far

Some of Barstool’s numbers from its Pennsylvania sports betting operations are underwhelming compared to early results released by Penn, but others show promise.

Penn National Sportsbook

The app has 61,000 downloads in Pennsylvania through Oct. 24. That’s a bit surprising as 35,000 had downloaded the app as of Sept. 21 after its first weekend.

Snowden also confirmed that a good number of the downloads thus far are not convertible because of location.

“If you follow the sort of population by state, that’s where you’d see the hit rates mostly on these downloads from outside the state of Pennsylvania,” Snowden said.

Penn’s conversion of those downloads has improved, however. The app had 30,000 first-time depositors as of Oct. 24, up from just 12,000 after the first weekend. That’s good for a 64% conversion rate of its 48,000 registrations.

The Reading effect

That could be skewed by a promotion Penn ran that would donate $100 to a beloved Philadelphia public marketplace with a $100 deposit on the app. That led to $150,000 in donations to Reading Terminal Market from Penn, Snowden said.

Barstool Sportsbook took $78 million in handle since launch, including $48.4 million in October. Penn noted its average bet was $62.

That October handle includes three NFL betting Sundays with one left in the month, which suggests Barstool should be at ~$60 million in handle for the full month.

Known customers betting 20% of handle

Of the 48,000 registrations in Pennsylvania, 95% of those customers were new to Penn National and its mychoice customer loyalty program.

That includes a mix of recreational customers as well as some sharp bettors too, Snowden noted. Interestingly, though, the 5% known to Penn is accountable for 20% of handle on the Barstool Sportsbook app.

Barstool Sportsbook exclusive content details

Penn National’s biggest differentiator is the content it works in with the Barstool personalities.

So far, 39% of its bettors have “Bet with Barstool” on the more than 75 exclusive bet opportunities offered. There have also been 4.5 million total livestream views of the Sportsbook House, where Barstool personalities watch games together.

Barstool Sportsbook also ran “The Overs Club” promotion, which won users a Barstool Sports-branded jacket if the over hit for on the NFL’s week 2 Monday Night Football matchup. The promotion, which required a $100 minimum bet, had 3,000 winners.

Barstool Sportsbook Launch Date

Retail sportsbooks important too

Penn National continues to tout the importance of physical sportsbooks for multiple reasons.

Barstool Sportsbook Illinois

First, it gives the company a place where Barstool fans can come meet and bet with their favorite Barstool Sports personalities. This will eventually expand to other undefined entertainment opportunities which will likely be a spot that’s a virtual sportsbook by day with a nightlife element at night, Snowden said.

Barstool Sportsbook Penn National Sports

Penn National outlined four retail sportsbooks in development:

• Ameristar Black Hawk, which launches next week. A Colorado sports betting app is not part of the launch and will follow next year.
• Greektown in Michigan will be finished in November or December. Penn plans to launch the Barstool app in the MI sports betting market as soon as the state is live this year or next.
• Ameristar East Chicago will open in December.
• Hollywood Lawrenceburg will be the first to open next year in January.

Retail books attracting younger, new customers

Most importantly, though, is that the books remain important to Penn’s land-based casino business, especially where mobile betting is not.

Barstool Sportsbook Casino

Penn highlighted the sportsbook at Hollywood Gulf Coast, which sits tucked away on a bay between New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi.

With no mobile betting available, the sportsbook has brought younger demographics and new customers to the casino. That’s led to some interesting statistics:

• 77% of handle came from bettors under 50, with the under-40 demo betting 59% of the total.
• 67% of rated sports betting handle is from customers that signed up since 2019.
• 72% of rated sports bettors that bet more than $1,000 on sports also played slot or table games.